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Actively exploited vulnerability

Microsoft Word: memory corruption flaw under attack

CVE-2014-1761 · Microsoft Word Memory Corruption Vulnerability

Concerns everyone who uses it7.8 high

What is affected

Microsoft Word is found on ordinary personal computers and phones, so this is not only a problem for companies. If you use it and have not updated since the fix was released, you are exposed.

Microsoft Word contains a memory corruption vulnerability which when exploited could allow for remote code execution.

CISA's description

What an attacker can do

This is a memory corruption flaw. It lets an attacker corrupt the program's memory by feeding it specially crafted content: a web page, a file or a network message. The result ranges from a crash to the attacker running their own code.

How it is reached
Needs access to the device or a file opened on it
Access the attacker needs
No account needed
Does the victim have to do something?
Yes, the victim must open or click something

What to do

  1. Update Microsoft Word now. Open the update or "About" screen, install whatever is offered and restart the app or device, because the fix is not active until you do.
  2. Turn on automatic updates so the next fix arrives without you having to look for it.
  3. If your device is too old to receive this update, stop using the affected app for anything sensitive and plan a replacement.

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Action required by CISA for US federal agencies

How urgent is it

CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on February 15, 2022, which means there is reliable evidence of attacks in the wild. US federal agencies must fix it by August 15, 2022, a deadline that has already passed. That deadline does not bind anyone else, but it shows how seriously the agency rates it.

The EPSS model estimates a 77% probability that this flaw will be exploited somewhere in the next 30 days. That is higher than 99.6% of all scored vulnerabilities.

Its CVSS severity score is 7.8 out of 10 (high), as recorded in the US National Vulnerability Database.

Technical description

Microsoft Word 2003 SP3, 2007 SP3, 2010 SP1 and SP2, 2013, and 2013 RT; Word Viewer; Office Compatibility Pack SP3; Office for Mac 2011; Word Automation Services on SharePoint Server 2010 SP1 and SP2 and 2013; Office Web Apps 2010 SP1 and SP2; and Office Web Apps Server 2013 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via crafted RTF data, as exploited in the wild in March 2014.

NIST National Vulnerability Database
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